Would you Retire if you weren't sure you could afford to?

[Indiana Randy]

Here's the deal; It's hard to plan for retirement without knowing when you're going to die. I'm 67 and still working a high stress job. If I die at 85, I can retire right now. If I live longer, I'll be living on SSI (unless I latch on to a lady with some wherewithal) Sorry, sounds horrible. My brother is an advocate of deciding when you expire. According to him I should retire and just plan to expire when I'm 85 and forget about it. Start Living. Crazy post, isn't it? Should I still work another year or two?

 

[CardsFan]

Short answer: No I would not.

Long answer: Without knowing anything about your assets, future income, or spending needs, it is impossible to give you any kind of answer for your case.

 

[street]

I'm far from an expert but if I were you, I would start a plan today and retire with in the next 12 months.

Not sure if you can tighten up the belt or what your expenses are but for me I would try to retire.

 

[GravitySucks]

My first iteration gave me an 80 some odd percent chance of making it to 84 being solvent. It was enough for me to except the RIF offer.
Of course it's been a great 8 years market wise and some assumptions were wrong and now I'll probably be leaving way to much to the kids.
Don't know your situation but retire after 67 - screw that!

 

[Dtail]

Short answer: No I would not.

Long answer: Without knowing anything about your assets, future income, or spending needs, it is impossible to give you any kind of answer for your case.

+1
If you are willing to provide us with more financial asset and spending details, we can at least provide some calculated response.

 

[RobbieB]

At 67, you are past retirement age right now. And that's traditional, not early.

Yeah, why not just finish up the year and enjoy!

 

[Scuba]

If I were you, I’d think about how to reduce your expenses so that you CAN retire ASAP. Working in a high-stress job in your late 60’s can’t be good for your health. If you were to die tomorrow, would you be happy you worked until the end or have regrets about what you didn’t make time to do? If regrets, then make a plan so that you can retire sooner vs later.

 

[FANOFJESUS]

I would retire if I was you. Males in my family most of the time do not see 85.

 

[jazz4cash]

If I were you, I’d think about how to reduce your expenses so that you CAN retire ASAP. Working in a high-stress job in your late 60’s can’t be good for your health. If you were to die tomorrow, would you be happy you worked until the end or have regrets about what you didn’t make time to do? If regrets, then make a plan so that you can retire sooner vs later.

Consider moving to a lower cost of living area even if it means moving abroad.

 

[Jerry1]

So when are you going to die?

Seriously - What if you plan to live to 90, you work until say 70 and all the numbers align and you’re convinced you can successfully retire. Then you live to 95. Then what? Answer - the same thing that will happen if you retire now and live past 85. There’s no guarantee.

Or, you can die next year and everything you saved for will never happen.

Both of these scenarios could happen. At some point, you either need to decide that you’re going to work until you’re no longer physically able or, you need to decide that you’ll take some chances and retire. Either way, things will work out.

Personally, I’d retire (oh yeah, I did do that ). There’s plenty of scenarios where I could outlive my money. They’re not likely, but if they happen, I’ll deal with it.

As others have pointed out, we’d need to understand your situation in more detail to see if you’re being overly conservative. Usually, where there’s a will, there’s a way.

 

[RAE]

If I were you, I’d think about how to reduce your expenses so that you CAN retire ASAP. Working in a high-stress job in your late 60’s can’t be good for your health. If you were to die tomorrow, would you be happy you worked until the end or have regrets about what you didn’t make time to do? If regrets, then make a plan so that you can retire sooner vs later.

+1. Take a hard look at your expenses, and see if there is any way to reduce them slightly without really impacting your lifestyle very much. As Scuba says, working much longer in a high-stress job is going to impact your health. I would lean toward retiring within the next year or so, but definitely review your expenses first to see if there is anything there that could potentially be cut or reduced, to give you a bit more of a safety cushion.

 

[daylatedollarshort]

+1. Take a hard look at your expenses, and see if there is any way to reduce them slightly without really impacting your lifestyle very much. As Scuba says, working much longer in a high-stress job is going to impact your health. I would lean toward retiring within the next year or so, but definitely review your expenses first to see if there is anything there that could potentially be cut or reduced, to give you a bit more of a safety cushion.

+2. Are there ways you can live better for less and stretch your retirement money out further? We have a lot of good posts here on topics from ordering low cost, prescription glasses at Zenni online and reducing cable bills. Or can you semi-retire and work part-time or a lower stress job to keep adding to your savings?

 

[RetireeRobert]

I would not retire if I were unsure of finances myself.

Split the difference and work one more year.

 

[Bamaman]

We all just have "X" days on this earth, however none of us have any idea what "X" is. I'm a believer in living a full life every day on this earth.

It's also nice if someone has a Plan B alternative in case liquid assets start to run low. My mother was down to her last $5K cash when she passed living in an expensive CCRC. We would have had to borrow against her lake house had she lived on. And I now own that lake house that can be sold for enough cash to last 10 years--Plan B.

 

[teetee]

My 71 yr old mother has a house and around 400k savings (according to her) plus $800/mo social security. She retired earlier this year but it was not her decision. The decision was made for her based on several small events she had no control of.

If you think you won't make it with the money you have by retiring now, you may want to creat and follow a plan after your retirement if you choose to retire now. If I don't have a plan, I imagine I would do lots of online shopping on my free time and double or triple my expenses.

 

[racy]

Personally, I would not like to be old and poor. It's hard enough being old...

 

[Gumby]

As Solon allegedly advised Croesus in Herodotus' Histories, "count no man happy until the end is known." None of us can be certain that we have sufficient funds to retire, because the end is not yet known. All we can do is study the probabilities as FIRECalc and other tools attempt to do. And for that, we would need substantially more data to advise you.

 

[wrigley]

My 71 yr old mother has a house and around 400k savings (according to her) plus $800/mo social security. She retired earlier this year but it was not her decision. The decision was made for her based on several small events she had no control of.

If you think you won't make it with the money you have by retiring now, you may want to creat and follow a plan after your retirement if you choose to retire now. If I don't have a plan, I imagine I would do lots of online shopping on my free time and double or triple my expenses.

My father was 69 when he passed away and he was still working full time. He wasn't financially stable. My mother finally retired at age 72 and has made it to age 82. She has more money (and no bills) than she knows what to do with but sits around and worries about how long she is going to live. Different strokes!


Mike

 

[flyingaway]

I don't understand your post. At 67, if you have high income, you should have other retirement funds. If you have low income, your social security should be enough.

 

[ut2sua]

OP, can you delay collecting your SS until 70? After 70, you will get ~24% more SS $ vs collecting at 67. This should ease the $ concern if you live past certain age. Good luck

 

[braumeister]

Back in 2014 you said this:

Admittedly, I've not kept a careful eye on any investments. Now, that is going to change. I'm going to 'take charge' and with your guidance and what I learn on this site, I hope to begin to build wealth with current balances.

So how has your plan been working out and what does it say about your retirement prospects?

 

[Cassius King]

Retire now and let your assets dictate your lifestyle.

I've set a firm date for my retirement, and at that date will live off whatever assets I have. I'm a low key introvert, so don't need much, but my freedom. The Dude Abides.

 

[TheWizard]

OP needs a viable retirement income plan, year to year as different income streams turn on.
Without that, you'll be fumbling in the dark with uncertainty around each corner.

And no, I wouldn't/didn't retire if I had significant doubts about my finances...

 

[TheWizard]

Personally, I would not like to be old and poor. It's hard enough being old...

Being old and rich is a winning combo, checko...

 

[CindyBlue]

Personally, I would not like to be old and poor. It's hard enough being old...

I agree with this wholeheartedly. It's easy to say now that you will just deal with it when you get old. But it's much harder to deal with poverty when you get old. I just spent two years dealing with my dad and his Alzheimer's and his lack of money, and it was very hard, for me but especially for him. It was not pretty...

Personally I'd work until I thought - and FireCalc said - that I had enough for at least to age 95 and beyond, with 100% prediction. This is what I did. I did work on lowering my expenses before I retired, and am happy with my decisions and my lifestyle so far. I don't have a lot, but I have enough.

Maybe you could find a less stressful job to hep you through making enough to have the retirement you want and need...